on July 23, 1983, Air Canada Flight 143 was cruising from Montreal to Edmonton with sixty-nine people aboard when both engines die without fuel, 2 pilots glide safely on the ground

 

What do you do when a jet at 41,000 feet goes silent and both engines die, not from fire or weather, but because the plane simply ran out of fuel.

Friends, on July 23, 1983, Air Canada Flight 143 was cruising from Montreal to Edmonton with sixty-nine people aboard when a metric conversion error left the aircraft badly underfueled. The 767 was supposed to carry 22,300 kilograms of fuel, but it was loaded with 22,300 pounds, barely half of what it needed. Over Manitoba, both engines flamed out, electrical systems faded, and a modern airliner became a glider.

Captain Robert Pearson and First Officer Maurice Quintal had no checklist for a total power loss at altitude. They had seconds to choose a landing site and minutes to descend. By chance and quick thinking, Quintal remembered a disused air base in Gimli, Manitoba. Pearson, a former glider pilot, flew a 130-ton jet without thrust, managing speed, altitude, and a steep approach with only basic control.

What could have been a fatal headline became a masterclass in human skill under pressure. The aircraft touched down on a converted runway that day crowded with spectators, yet everyone on board survived, with only minor injuries. Investigations later confirmed the cause was not equipment failure, but a simple unit mistake during Canada’s transition to metric.

We talk about automation and procedures, and they matter, but this flight reminds us that training, presence of mind, and calm judgment can still bend outcomes.

Sometimes survival is not luck at all, but competence meeting the moment.

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